This Saturday, on 26 July, the IB Translations team once again took part in the annual Night Moscow rally. Our crew included Mikhail Tsyferov (driver), Konstantin Golota (co-driver) and Varvara Ivanova (crew member).   

According to the final results, we came in 29th in the overall standing and 25th in the group standing (out of 43 and 38 cars, respectively). As you may remember, last year we got lost and came in 34th in the overall standing and 28th in the group standing (out of 54 and 42 cars, respectively). The progress the team has made is evident, especially given that it was a night rally.

The event was held to celebrate the Rolls-Royce brand. The IB Translations drove a "Rolls-Roys 965A Blue Spirit", decked out in the corporate colours. It performed well in the race. Unfortunately, we weren’t among the winners due to a densely packed finish.

Mikhail Tsyferov, driver: “This has sure been a sobering experience. We put in a lot of effort and were expecting better scores after our previous successful races. Our car isn’t fully equipped for a night race, as it lacks lighting in the cabin, but it is no excuse for the crew. We did not do our best. But in any case, it was an exciting show, big thanks for that to its organisers and all the supporters that came out. As for the team, we’ll be preparing for the next rally and will strive for a better result.”

Konstantin Golota, co-driver: “I’m glad we were once again able to finish the rally and cover the entire route. We managed to figure out all the tricky points planned by the organisers. Unfortunately, we went off-route in the first stage and lost some time getting back. A small mistake in the third stage didn’t cost us time, but resulted in penalty minutes for exceeding the required average speed. All in all, compared to this year’s first rally, our performance improved, but the score was lower due to many cars finishing at the same time. This is because only the most experienced teams dare to enter a night rally.”

Varvara Ivanova, crew member: “For me, the race was very exciting. After all, we did finish this time. I enjoyed the beautiful cars and costumes of our rivals, a charming route through Moscow streets, and engaging tasks regarding facade lions. I liked how other teams reacted to our car (some of them even offered exchanging the vehicles). We demonstrated real teamwork (even the arguing was synchronised), ran a live radio broadcast from the Pumpkin, and did many other memorable things. It’s worth mentioning that we came face to face with another ZAZ-965A and left it far behind, which was a neat little victory. To sum up, this is a great experience!”

For live updates, visit our Twitter page @golota82 (http://twitter.com/golota82). 

With half the season passed, the teams are wrapping up for a holiday. There won’t be any events until 21 September, when the Classic Car Rally Finale that closes the season takes place. IB Translations currently holds the 20th spot for the season’s Cup, but will probably go down in rankings after the results of the last race are counted in. At the closing race, we will be fighting for a top-20 spot. 

Onwards to victory of communism!